Ghaggar tragedy: Body of second girl recovered

A day after two girls were swept away in the Ghaggar at Pinjore, the Panchkula police found the body of the second girl, Monica, on Sunday at about 8 am. The search for the body was launched at 3am. Monica was a resident of Rajiv Colony in Panchkula.

Even as the deputy commissioner of police imposed Section 144 ( prohibition of assembly of more than 5 people) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) around the area, ‘irresponsible’ merry-making on the banks of the river continued on Sunday as well.(Sant Arora/HT Photo)

A day after two girls were swept away in the Ghaggar at Pinjore, the Panchkula police found the body of the second girl, Monica, on Sunday at about 8 am. The search for the body was launched at 3am. Monica was a resident of Rajiv Colony in Panchkula.

The body of the other girl Neelam was found on Saturday around 2km from the where they were taking a bath. Monica’s body was found from the river near Gumthala village.

Meanwhile, despite imposition of Section 144 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) by the deputy commissioner of police in the area, several people, including children, were seen near the river.

Children continued to bathe in the river, turning a blind eye to the tragic episode.

The DC again advised people on Sunday not to venture out in the area during the rainy season.

Neelam’s parents exchanged heated arguments with doctors at the Panchkula civil hospital when the latter refused to perform the postmortem saying the area from where the body was found was under the jurisdiction of Kalka, so doctors from there should perform the postmortem.

Some residents of the colony also arrived at the hospital and raised slogans against the doctors and finally approached MLA Gian Chand Gupta to resolve the matter. It was after the MLA’s intervention that the doctor agreed for postmortem.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Janak Raj said, “Dr Baljeet, who was initially reluctant to the post-mortem eventually agreed to do it for both the girls.”